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Architects: Absence from Island
- Area: 100 m²
- Year: 2021
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Photographs:@f.o.v_
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Manufacturers: Cobelco
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Lead Architects: Chi, Lok Yan, Tsin, Tung, Etain, Helen
Text description provided by the architects. It is worth noting that the barista of the cafe is indeed the Champion of Hong Kong Cup Tasters Championship 2021 organized by Hong Kong Specialty Coffee Association. It was a competition similar to a wine-tasting competition that required intense sensitivity of smell, taste, and eyesight as well as a lot of experience to identify the ingredients of the coffee.
The client’s dedication to his own specialty somehow translated into the expectation of the craftsmanship of the construction. In order to prevent a blandness of the stainless steel used, stainless steel panels of various colors and finishes have been chosen to give subtle changes on the facade and as they extend into the interior. For the washed aggregate concrete, it was widely used in Whampoa when it was originally built in the 80s, a large well-known middle-class estate in Hong Kong where the boutique is located.
The exposed concrete you see now was the result of many testings on the combinations of aggregates and cement. On top of the two main elements, there is a feature rock at the shop front as well as some smaller rocks being placed inside the bar table. They are a reminder of nature as well as to remind customers the formation of coffee beans and their resulting taste indeed depends on the environment that they were grown in and was a gift from nature.
The owner of the salon is an experienced hairdresser and used to work in local salons which care a lot about speed which he dislikes. Here he wants to create a boutique salon that emphasizes the quality of the whole experience as well as the final outcome. The area of the salon can also be easily transformed into a pub scenario where musicians can carry out mini-concerts at night and alcohol will be served as well. The infinity mirror lighting was designed to enhance the atmosphere of music nights when the rest of the lights are turned off.
